Weird cloudy layer in Guppy Tanks

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madisonfortyway

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My guppy tanks have has this cloudy film in them for the past week. In my adult tank it was everywhere. I just set up this 5 gallon for my fry and after going to sleep I wake up to this. Half of my fry are dead and this milky layer is just sitting at the bottom of my tank.
 

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It’s not a slime substance it’s literally just a thin layer of cloudy water. When i move the water around it spreads everywhere then settles.
 
Oh wow, I've never seen anything like that.

What did you do to set up the tank? Is the filter from an established tank? Same source water? Substrate/decor etc used? Anything added to the water in terms of water treatment, bacteria or chemicals?

@Ch4rlie @WhistlingBadger @Lunar Jetman @The Lumpfish Guy ?
 
I know!
I got the five gallon yesterday because I saw the problem in my main tank and didn’t want my guppy fry to be affected. Everything in the tank is new: substrate, filter, heater, air stone- everything. The only thing that I used from the other tank was some plants BUT i made sure to rinse them off for a while before transferring them, in case of anything. All the water is completely new and conditioned with prime, accu-clear, and an ammonia detoxifier.
 
@WhistlingBadger There was water circulation from the filter and then that’s when I started to notice the cloudy-ness start to form. So I lowered the flow and thought maybe it was picking up fish feces. But it just started to cover the whole tank and within minutes I couldn’t see any of my fry! I was planning on switching to my sponge filter and only used the hang on filter to get things going but after seeing what happened I panicked and didn’t touch anything.
 
@WhistlingBadger I decided to use some cheap black gravel for now until I could order the Fluorite Black. I’ve used it before to start up a tank and had no problems. I rinsed it thoroughly.
 
Well, the first thing I would do is get the filters going and establishing some water circulation and aeration. That might make the tanks look less clear, but it will eliminate the dead zone that exists at the bottom of your tank and make things a bit healthier for the fish.

I would also stop using accu-clear. From what I've read, it makes the water look prettier, but doesn't solve the problem.

The cheap black gravel should be OK, assuming it's made for aquariums and the paint is safe (usually a safe assumption).
 
Wait a minute; I just read your post again. You said this started within minutes of your turning on the filter? Is it possible there was some sort of crud in your filter that got blown all over the place?
 
It looks like a bloom that isn't spreading through the tank. is it below the heater, and the filter intake?
I've wondered about thermoclines forming in aquarium, and this sort of says it's possible.

A thermocline is where water at 2 different temperatures stays seperate and doesn't mix, I have swam through them, warm surface water, a cold layer, then warm water below that, and they are also known to trap sound and mess up sonar systems.
And if it is a bloom it will deoxygenate the water.

How long has the tank been running?
Try moving the filter intake and airstone into the layer. Is the airstine running? And is your filter outlet disturbing the water surface?
 
@WhistlingBadger Well yes. When I first out everything in the tank it was completely clear. Then I started the brand new filter I got to start up the tank. I had rinsed everything out before starting it, of course. So I’m not sure how the filter would be dirty :/ Especially when it was new and rinsed.
 
@kwi Well it is below everything now. Almost like it “settled”. But when it first started forming it was all throughout the tank. So much so that I couldn’t see anything in it. It wasn’t till this morning when I woke up that i noticed it was just matted on the floor.

This is the first day it’s been running.
I tried moving the heater, air stone, and filter thing into the layer to see if it would “break the layer up” and it just ended up fogging up the whole tank and doing the same thing.
 
@The Lumpfish Guy
I got the black gravel from petsmart. I rinsed it to make sure to get rid of anything.
I’ve had the rocks for a while. They’re from home-depot. I made sure to rinse those too.
The plants are from my local pet store and have been with me for some time. I have anubias, some amazon swords, a bamboo cutting that’s growing, and another plant that i can’t remember the name of.
 
Could be a bloom and then temp layers, a bloom in itself isn't dangerous but can take the O2 out of the water, so you need to make sure there's plenty of gas exchange happening at the surface.
The fact it spread through the tank shows your water is being circulated well.
I had a bloom last 9 days and you couldn't see a couple of inches into the tank.

I also guess the tank hadn't been cycled before adding fish.
 

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